Jones cheers 4am closing

Man who shared baby porn walks free

A GOLD Coast man who was found sharing almost 40 horrifying images of child sexual abuse featuring children and babies has walked from court with no time behind bars.

The electrician, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty in Southport District Court to using a carriage service to share and access child exploitation material and one count of possessing child pornography.

The man was also found in possession of almost 1500 images of child pornography on his laptop in June 2016. The court heard police found Skype conversations where the man shared almost 40 images.

The man was also a victim of sexual abuse as a child and has spent the last year getting physiological treatment.

Judge David Kent sentenced him a head sentence of two years jail to be released on good behaviour once a $1000 bond was paid. “The material is serious in nature and some of the victims are babies,” he said.

The court heard some of the images, including those shared, were in the two highest categories of child porn.

Mr Kent said he was satisfied from the medical reports submitted the man was unlikely to reoffend. LABOR’S State Government yesterday rubber-stamped its decision to let Glitter Strip bars party an extra hour until 4am for the Commonwealth Games.

Games Minister Kate Jones, who led consultation with Gold Coast venues, tourism bosses and Mayor Tom Tate in the lead up to the decision, told Parliament yesterday she was “very pleased” to stand in support of the temporary change and see it passed.

She praised Attorney General Yvette D’Ath for being “flexible” on what was a “difficult issue”.

Labor overhauled licensing when it came to power, slashing closing by two hours statewide, resulting in 3am closing in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. The bid to tackle boozefuelled violence also resulted in compulsory ID scanning to weed out troublemakers and bans on shots after midnight.

But now bars and restaurants will automatically be able to trade an hour longer than their existing licence under the change for the Games.

“We know we’re a relatively safe destination compared to other places in the world and I want people to have a great time,” Ms Jones said.